A power steering rack and pinion housing has a number of internal oil seals. If oil leakage is present, one or more of these seals may require replacement. It is much less expensive to remove and replace the seals than to replace the entire power steering unit. However, removal and replacement of the seals can be a time-consuming task. A commonly used prior art seal puller is a special tool with jaws that spread apart to lock onto the seal. A slide hammer is then attached to the seal puller and used to impact the seal a number of times to eventually remove it.
The number of tools that a mechanic must have available to replace the seals in power steering units of various makes of automobiles can be prohibitive. For instance, different auto manufacturers require a number of special tools for removing the seals from their power steering rack and pinion housings. In some instances, an auto manufacturer will each year require one or more new special tools for removing the oil seals from the power steering units. A large number of tools is required to remove the seals from all power steering units because the sizes and thicknesses of the oil seals varies from one auto manufacturer to the next. A seal, such as the inner rack seal (also referred to in the art as the internal high pressure rack oil seal) is located internally down inside the rack and pinion housing. The seal puller must extend to just the correct depth in the housing and lock onto the seal before the seal can be extracted with the slide hammer. This problem has been met in the past by use of a separate special tool for tightening onto each seal.
The present invention provides a universal seal puller that can be used to remove the oil seals from the rack and pinion portions of all power steering units.